Polish Army Lance-Corporal Paweł Poświat was killed in Ghazni province on 28th July 2011 when a road mine detonated beneath his armored patrol vehicle. L-Cpl. Poświat, age 29, was driving the vehicle at the time of the explosion.

Seriously injured, he was evacuated by helicopter to the Polish military base hospital in Ghazni. Sadly, doctors were unable to save his life.

L-Cpl. Poświat, a bachelor, joined the Polish Army in 2003 and served with the 17th Wielkopolska Mechanized Brigade.

22-year-old Oklahoma Army National Guardsman, Augustus 'Augy' Vicari was killed in action on Friday 29th July 2011 when his patrol vehicle struck a roadside bomb. He had deployed to Afghanistan in June.

The soldier, who graduated from Lowell High School, Indiana, in 2008 was married and lived in Oklahoma. He joined the Oklahoma National Guard in 2009. He and his wife, Holly, would have celebrated their first wedding anniversary in September.

A "quick wit and ready smile" is how family and friends are remembering Augustus Vicari, one of five children.

"The Last of the First"The first offensive action of the United States during World War II was on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands by the United States Marine Corps.
August 7, 1942.The First Marine Division fought on Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Cape Gloucester,New Britian, New Guinea, Peleliu, Okinawa.
There is a bottle of 1st Grand Cru Cognac, (circa 1920-25) that is to be opened by the last survivor among the Marines and sailors who served in combat with the division during WW II. It was estimated that it would be opened by 2010. It is in the Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco and is in the custody of the First Marine Division Association.
Navy Pharmacist Mates served side by side with the Marines. Wore out uniforms but with their insignia. They were our beloved "Corpsman".
136 KIA with the 1st Division.
Who knows? Maybe I will be the one to raise the glass in a toast to a truly great Division.

Fideli Certa Merces - To the faithful there is just reward
Semper Fidelis -Always Faithful
To be a Marine is enough
Pfc. Thomas C. Reedy, Jr.
566495Company C, 1st Battalion,
7th Regiment First Marine Division
United States Marine Corps 1944-46

Hawaii-based US Army Sergeant William B. GrossPaniagua, from Daly City, California, was killed in action on 31st July 2011 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, when an insurgent bomb detonated against his patrol vehicle.

US Army Pfc. Brice M. Scott, age 22, was killed in action on Sunday 31st July 2011 near Kandahar, Afghanistan, during a contact with enemy forces involving small-arms fire.

Pfc. Scott, on his first deployment to Afghanistan, was a father and former North Eugene High School student in Oregon. On joining the Army, he continued a family tradition of military service going back generations.

His family told local news that "he sought out the action of the front line and died doing the job he loved."

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Chief Warrant Officer George A. Howes, of Knox, Ind., will be buried Aug. 5 in Arlington National Cemetery. On Jan. 10, 1970, Howes and three aircrew members were returning to their base at Chu Lai, South Vietnam aboard a UH-1C Huey helicopter. Due to bad weather, their helicopter went down over Quang Nam Province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.). A search was initiated for the crew, but no sign of the helicopter or crew was spotted.

In 1989, the S.R.V. gave to U.S. specialists 25 boxes that reportedly contained the remains of U.S. servicemen related to this incident. Later that year, additional remains and a military identification tag from one of the other missing servicemen were obtained from a Vietnamese refugee.

Between 1993 and 1999, joint U.S./S.R.V. teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), conducted three investigations in Ho Chi Minh City and two investigations in Quang Nam-Da Nang Province (formerly Quang Nam Province). A Vietnamese citizen in Ho Chi Minh City turned over a military identification tag bearing Howes’ name and told the team he knew where the remains of as many as nine American servicemen were buried. He agreed to lead the team to the burial site. In 1994, the team excavated the site and recovered a metal box and several bags containing human remains. In 2006, the remains of three of the four men were identified and buried. No remains could be attributed to Howes given the technology of the time. In 2008, given advances in DNA technology, the remains were reanalyzed.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Howes’ sister and brother—in the identification of the remains.

US Marine Sergeant Christopher M. Wrinkle, age 27, from Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, died in Afghanistan on Sunday 31st July 2011. Sgt. Wrinkle, who holds two Purple Hearts, was engaged to be married to Elizabeth Cunnings.

He graduated from Dallastown Area Senior High in 2001 and had spent almost ten years serving with the U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations Command based at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Major Jeffrey Landis, public affairs officer of the special operations command, told local news reporters.

Oklahoma National Guard Staff Sgt. Kirk Owen, age 37, was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday 2nd August 2011 from the blast of a roadside bomb that struck his vehicle during a mine-sweeping operation, according to a family spokesman.

Staff Sgt. Owen, from Sapulpa, Oklahoma, was on his second combat tour in Afghanistan, serving with the 45th Infantry. He leaves behind a wife and two daughters.

It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Marine James Robert Wright, from Juliet Company, 42 Commando Royal Marines, serving as part of Combined Force Nad 'Ali (North), was killed in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan on Friday 5 August 2011.

The Secretary of the Army John McHugh announced today a change in the length of future unit operational deployments from 12 months to nine months. This change will be fully implemented by April 2012, and applies to division-level-and-below units. This policy will not affect personnel or units currently deployed or deploying prior to Jan. 1, 2012. The deployment period for high demand and low density units and individual deployers will remain one year.

The reduced deployment length will improve soldier and family quality of life while continuing to meet operational requirements and is an important step in sustaining the all-volunteer-force. This policy change is consistent with secretary of defense policies for utilization of the total force. Implementation of this change is based on the projected demand for Army forces, and is contingent on global security conditions and combatant commander requirements.

10th Mountain Division Private 1st Class Gil I. Morales Del Valle was one of two US Army soldiers killed from the blast of an insurgent bomb that detonated against their patrol vehicle in Wardak province. He died on 3rd August 2011.

21-year-old Pfc. Morales Del Valle, from Jacksonville, Florida, served with the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment based at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He joined the Army in February 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan in October 2010.

10th Mountain Division Private 1st Class Cody G. Baker was one of two US Army soldiers killed from the blast of an insurgent bomb that detonated against their patrol vehicle in Wardak province. He died on 3rd August 2011.

19-year-old Pfc. Baker, from Holton, Kansas, served with the 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment based at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He joined the Army in June 2010 and deployed to Afghanistan in November 2010.

His awards include the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, among others. Army officials said Pfc. Baker is survived by his mother and stepfather.